Due to the tremendous size of traditional aircraft, conventional wing maintenance generally involves at least two human operators. In a first example of a typical maintenance technique, a first human operator is positioned at the wing being repaired, and a second human operator is located near a computing device (e.g., a desktop or laptop computer), which is typically located away from the aircraft. The first human operator physically makes repairs to the wing (e.g., removing fasteners in a given order) based on instructions communicated from the second human operator who is operating the computing device. In particular, the computing device may be executing a maintenance application program that provides instructions for repairing the wing.
The first human operator may verbally communicate to the second human operator information about the portion of the wing being viewed. For example, the first human operator may communicate characteristics of the portion of the wing being viewed. The second human operator may input these characteristics into the maintenance application program, which outputs to a screen display instructions based on the characteristics. The second human operator may then verbally communicate to the first human operator the instructions provided by the maintenance application program. Upon receiving the instructions, the first human operator may perform maintenance on the wing based on the instructions.
This first technique enables the first human operator to fully concentrate on repairing the wing with both hands free, without the distraction of additionally operating the maintenance application program. However, the effectiveness of the first technique is substantially dependent on the accuracy and preciseness of the verbal communications between the first human operator and the second human operator. Further, verbal communications between the first human operator and the second human operator can be inefficient, particularly when the first human operator and the second human operator have difficulty communicating due to relative location, environment (e.g., noise, visual obstructions, etc.), or terminology (e.g., acronyms, slang, etc.).
In a second example of a typical maintenance technique, a video or laser projector may be positioned above a portion of the wing in order to overlay part information directly on the wing. A human operator is positioned at the wing being repaired and interacts with the projector through a suitable input device, such as a pointing device (e.g., mouse, laser tracker, etc.) or a tablet computer. Alternatively, the human operator may verbally communicate with another human operator who manually operates the projector.
While this second technique does not rely heavily on verbal communications between multiple human operators, it still has significant flaws. In particular, operating the input device requires the human operator to take at least one hand away from repairing the wing, and a larger input device, such as a tablet computer, can become cumbersome to handle when carried high above ground at the wing. By focusing on the computer generated image, the operator's attention is removed from the task at hand. The projector also can be occluded by people and objects between the projector and the wing. Further, the projector is relatively expensive compared to other conventional techniques.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.